Charles Dickens Old London - Very Small Group Tour
Description
Treat yourself to a very small group tour around the sites immortalised by one of the most famous authors in the world, Charles Dickens. This tour takes you on a journey through Dickens life, and to the very sites that still survive much as he would have remembered them. Your guide will bring to life the Hidden Courts, Alleys and Taverns featured in novels such as Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop, Little Doritt and many more. The tour includes free entry to the Charles Dickens Museum located in the very house he wrote Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby and The Pickwick Papers. • See the places Charles Dickens lived and worked • Real locations featured in the stories • Explore hidden Alleys, Courts, and Taverns • A very small group tour for more personalised attention. • Includes hidden sites
Tour Options
Itinerary
Home of the printed press since 1500, with many important links to Charles Dickens and locations from his stories.
Let's explore the area where Dicken's worked as a junior Clerk. From the mysterious Inns of Court he took inspiration that would later find it's way in to David Copperfield, Great Expectations, and Martin Chuzzlewit.
A Tavern with Cellars dating to the 13th Century. This Pub was a haunt of Dickens and a meeting place for the Hellfire Club. David Copperfield drinks here in the Novel of the same name.
The first location mentioned in A Christmas Carol, and a major London landmark. We will walk by this incredible Cathedral and through the Church yard as we pass deep in to the old City of London.
This ancient Church now houses a popular Cafe, and is still a working Guild Church right in the heart of the city. A perfect place for a short rest and a refreshment stop.
Right next to the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange is where the Ghost of Christmas yet to come takes Scrooge to see his colleagues discussing his funeral. The steps of the Exchange are the traditional spot where Royal announcements are made. Today you can cross the trading floor, but the bankers are long gone. Now designer shops, and Champagne bars attract the visitors attention.
Featured in A Christmas Carol, and most recently as a filming location for the Harry Potter Movies.
Let's get off the beaten path and head deep into the world of Ebeneezer Scrooge and 'A Christmas Carol' as we visit Scrooge's Counting House, the place where he took supper on Christmas Eve, and Charles Dickens favourite Chop House the George and Vulture. If Dickens was on this tour with us, he would be able to go in to the George and Vulture, find his favourite table, and even order his favourite meal. Not a lot has changed. This atmospheric old tavern was the meeting place of the Pickwick Club and is mentioned over 20 times in the Pickwick Papers. The equally unchanged Tavern round the corner, Simpsons is most likely Scrooge's favourite eating spot. Your guide will explain why!
Is this small court the location of Ebeneezer Scrooge's house? Let's examine the evidence.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
Reviews(10)
To be thoroughly immersed in Dickens London was a really special treat for me, him being one of my favourite authors. Our guide was very knowledgeable and took good care of us on our meanderings through the streets and hidden alleyways. He gave us extra pieces of interesting facts along the way that weren’t related to Dickens but added to the experience. Very well presented tour, nice for it to be a small group also as some of the places you go would be difficult in a large group.
Our guide, Richard, was very friendly, arrived on time, and had lots of fun historical facts and side stories relating to Charles Dickens. We loved how he showed us, based on Dickens own writings, exactly the London locations used in his novels. Really brought it all to life! Would highly recommend.
This is such a great review. Thank you so much, I truly appreciate it. Hope to see you again on a future trip!
This was an informative and interesting tour that covered almost 3 hours and the life of Dickens. I was actually the only one in the tour so was able to ask questions. Richard is an interesting and knowledgeable guide, both about Dickens’ life and great works as well as the history of the City of London where most of the tour took place. Richard also pointed out locations where scenes from famous films such as Bridget Jones’ Diary, Harry Potter, and Da Vinci Code were shot. I highly recommend this tour to see areas of the City of London that are off the beaten path and to learn more about Dickens’ life.
Thank you so much Suzanne. It was a pleasure to meet you. I really appreciate your kind words and great review. Thank you.
Whether you are a reader or not, this walking tour will introduce you to Dickens and his characters living in Victorian London. Richard is a phenomenal guide brimming with history, steaped in Dickens and grounded in modern day Britain. Lots of iconic pictures and inspiration, to read Dickens as a social advocate and keen observer. Meeting place is very easy to find and the tour ends near Leaderhall which has many great eating establishments. Thank you for this memorable morning.
What a wonderful review! Thank you so much Julia. It was a pleasure to meet you and show you around the oldest parts of London. I enjoyed having such an interesting, and interested guest. Hope to see you on one of my other tours! Thanks again. Richard.
What started as an accidental booking for a private (vs group) tour for my daughter and me turned into a once in a lifetime tour of not just Dickens’s London but when we expressed an interest, Richard enthusiastically added Sherlock Holmes, Benjamin Franklin, and even Shakespeare among other literary writers, characters, and famous people and places. Highly highly recommend! So many places we never would have even noticed! My only regret is that we didn’t book it earlier in our trip to London to add context to the rest of our visit - unforgettable!
This is such a wonderful review! Thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time to leave your comments. I hope to see you again for another tour! It was a pleasure to meet you both.
Fantastic experience. Richard is very knowledgeable and friendly. Highly recommend to anyone (even non-literary enthusiasts).
Thank you so much! I am thrilled you enjoyed the tour, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we meet again for one of my other London tours!
A Christmas Carol is one of favorites stories, and we re-read it every December. Thanks to Richard, we were able to see the word of Charles Dickens that inspired this classic!
Thank you so much Amy! Great review, and I am so happy you enjoyed the tour. I hope to see you again for one of my other London Tours.
Absolutely wonderful time with Richard who provided vivid storytelling of the places Charles Dickens spent time as a boy and man as he developed his life and stories.
Thank you so much for this great review! I am so happy you enjoyed the tour, it was a pleasure to meet you, and I hope it got you in the Christmas mood! Have a great holiday season!
Last September on a visit to London my wife and I arranged a tour of Chartwell and Biggin Airfield with Richard, and we had a wonderful time (see my earlier review for details). So, when we knew we would be in London in April with our daughter and her husband, I contacted Richard about setting up a walking tour of old London for the four of us, as I knew from chatting with him on our previous visit that he was extremely knowledgeable about English literature and London history. As was the case in September, we thoroughly enjoyed a delightful day with the best tour guide we've ever used. Richard guided us on a walk from the Tower of London to Covent Garden, pointing out sites and buildings of importance in London history, as well as historic pubs, movie locations, and many fascinating sites associated with the life and work of Charles Dickens and other favorite authors (e.g., Arthur Conan Doyle). Richard's knowledge of "all things London" is simply incredible. Though all four in our group have made numerous trips to London over the years, every stop we made on our walk was a new experience for us. Richard definitely knows the "hidden gems" of the city, and we all agreed that our six-hour walk was a most memorable and enjoyable learning experience - and definitely among the highlights of all our many travel experiences in England. Our walking tour was well-paced and very well organized. In addition to being knowledgeable and totally prepared, Richard is also extremely personable and engaging. I honestly cannot imagine a better tour guide for a visit to London. If you are looking for an exceptional travel experience, contact Richard!
What a super review! I am so pleased you enjoyed the day, it was great to see you again, and to meet your Daughter and Son in Law. It would be great if I could leave reviews for my clients as you would all get 5 stars of course! Thank you so much for the Afternoon Tea treat at F&M that was really nice of you. Reviews like this really mean a lot to me, and I am very much looking forward to your next trip!
Richard was fun, engaging, knowledgeable and flexible. We enjoyed his company immensely. Very happy with our experience!
Thank you so much for this great review. It was so nice to meet you, and I am so glad you enjoyed the tour. I hope we get to meet again on a future trip!
